European Union
The Euro Widens the Culture Gap
In his piece entitled “The Euro Widens the Culture Gap” from the New York Times, AICGS board member Josef Joffe explains how the Euro has made worse any cultural differences that existed between European countries pre-euro times. The PIIGS countries – Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, and Spain – should never have been admitted to the Euro, argues Joffe. Now, the borrowing afforded to them by the Euro allowed them to continue their profligate ways, thus leading to the current crisis facing the euro-zone as a whole.
Why the EU needs a Special Representative to Respond to the Arab Spring
The European Union and its member states continue to struggle to find a response to the Arab Spring, write former DAAD/AICGS Fellow Almut Möller and Cornelius Adebahr. Past policy approaches had little impact on the area’s regimes, if anything doing more to support them than reform them. In this report for the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP), the authors argue that the EU should reorient its policies and utilize one of its established and successful foreign policy instruments and name an EU Special Representative for North Africa.
AICGS Podcast: Germany’s Role in Libya and the Middle East
In a new AICGS Podcast, Member of the Bundestag Dr. Andreas Schockenhoff, deputy chairman of the CDU/CSU-parliamentary group for Foreign Affairs, examines the roles of Germany, NATO, and the EU in dealing with the conflict in Libya and across the greater Middle East-North Africa region. Moderated by Dr. Jackson Janes, Dr. Schockenhoff touches on Turkey’s role in the Middle East, potential Libyan comparisons to Kosovo, and the importance of Egypt in overall regional stability.
Europe’s Surprisingly Bold Step Toward Solving Its Sovereign Debt Crisis
The outcome of the euro area meeting last week was far more substantive than expected, even if one takes into account that the expectations had been at rock bottom, writes Jacob Kirkegaard, research fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and a regular contributor to the Advisor. Not only did EU leaders demonstrate how they intend to prevent peripheral defaults, they also gave us an idea of their longer-term solutions for Europe’s economic problems and future integration, Kirkegaard argues.
The EU: Pretension Without Power
Little more than a year after the passage of the Lisbon Treaty, the E.U. faces a much dimmer future, writes Doug Bandow, Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute and a regular contributor to the Advisor. The EU’s objective of becoming the globe’s third “Weltmacht,” alongside America and China, looks ever more like a fantasy, Bandow argues, especially as the financial crisis threatens European unity. This essay originally appeared in the author’s blog on Forbes online on February 7, 2011.
Climate and Energy Policy After the U.S. Midterm Elections
Conditions for U.S. climate and energy policy have changed considerably after comprehensive climate and energy legislation failed in the 111th Congress. In the newly elected 112th Congress, emphasis will likely shift away from climate change to more orthodox supply side energy strategies. Writing from a European perspective, Sascha Müller-Kraenner, Managing Director of The Nature Conservancy in Europe and a regular contributor to the Advisor, explores the consequences of these U.S. changes for the European Union’s climate and energy strategy as well as for a future international climate regime.
Germany’s Foreign Policy Challenges in 2011
State Secretary Dr. Werner Hoyer, MdB (FDP), discusses with Dr. Jackson Janes the foreign policy challenges facing Germany in the upcoming year, including Iran, the financial crisis, Belarus, and the Hungarian EU presidency.
The Lisbon Treaty in Focus: Germany, the EU, Transatlantic Relations, and Beyond
When the Lisbon Treaty entered into force on 1 December 2009, no one quite knew how this would impact transatlantic relations or how an EU with increasing responsibilities would act toward its neighbors. In the months since, we have seen successes and setbacks: Implementation of the Lisbon Treaty is progressing within the EU with a new President and High Representative already in office, yet transatlantic tensions over the sharing of SWIFT data have called internal EU cooperation into question. In Policy Report 44, authors Frances Burwell and Ludger Kühnhardt examine the Lisbon Treaty and discuss what its influence will be not only on the EU, but also on transatlantic relations and the EU’s neighborhood.
Transatlantic Relations After the Lisbon Treaty: Ready for Action, or More Process?
In Issue Brief 37, “Transatlantic Relations After the Lisbon Treaty: Ready for Action, or More Process?” AICGS Research Program/ Publications Coordinator Jessica Riester considers the European Union’s Lisbon Treaty with regard to the EU, the U.S., and Germany within the context of a more broadly international role. Ms. Riester discusses the Treaty’s key aspects for the EU institutions, foreign policy, and transatlantic relations, touching additionally on EU-NATO relations and the impact of the Lisbon Treaty on Germany and an enlarging EU.
Assertive Supremacy and Enlightened Self-Interest: The United States and the “Unity of Europe”
American policy toward the integration of the European continent since the Second World War can be aptly summarized with the help of a statement made by former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. “I am extraordinarily patient,” she once said, “provided I get my own way in the end.” …
